CDs… though I’ve been collecting them since I was in junior high, as a web designer and digital enthusiast, I’m no longer a fan of them. They’re bad for the environment, they cost struggling artists a lot of money to print, they go out of stock, they’re limited. I think they’ll soon go the way of vinyl: a novelty item.
We can all get sentimental about the tangible and tactile experience with the physical compact disc. Remember how we bemoaned the advent of CDs, crying about how album artwork was going to die with the LP? Now people are having the same “letting go” issue with digital. Digital audio is limitless. Not only can the download package contain the music, but it can also contain glorious digital booklets with as many pages as you want, bonus tracks, videos, photos, liner notes, lyrics… almost anything if an artist is willing to think outside the box.
My favorite recent examples were the releases of Autolux’s Transit Transit (sold from their own website, powered brilliantly by Topspin Media) and the iTunes deluxe version of The Rolling Stones’ remastered Exile on Main Street, which features over 2 hours of music, plus a glorious iTunes LP digital booklet. Terrific and truly 3-dimensional experiences with new (or renewed) music.
Listen to the podcast below...
If you don't have Flash available, or you are visiting on a mobile device, click here to listen.
Pandora is the internet radio jukebox that enables you to create your own personalized radio “stations” based on your likes. Its inner workings are founded on something called the 
